Its is normal in our centres to request mumineen to recite Namaaz e Wahshat (on the night of burial) whenever one of us returns to our Merciful Lord.

It is a common request in Dar es Salaam and we have a special light inside the masjid which is switched on on the day of any burial so that members can recite Namaaz e Wahshat.

Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi however explains that Namaaz e Wahshat as per our text is only recommended to be prayed by the heir or one person given permission/appointed by the heir.

He says:

Namaz-e wahshat is to be recited once by the wali (heir) of the deceased or by someone who has been asked by the wali to do that namaz. In our sources, only one recital of namaz-e wahshat is mentioned.

So what we see that whenever a news of someone’s death in a far away land is announced at our centers, all the people recite namaz-e wahshat (even if it is already the next day in the country where the burial took place) — this does not have a valid basis in our religious sources. Otherwise, if you count the entire Shí‘a world, then hundreds of mu’mineen pass away every day — then namaz-e wahshat would become a daily part of our prayers!

What is Namaz-e Hadya-e Mayyit? Namaz-e Hadya-e Mayyit means the salat that is done for sending its reward as gift to a deceased person.

When can it be prayed? This salat can be done at any time, as many times, and for as many deceased people as possible. (Unlike the namaz-e wahshat which can be done only for one person at a time).

How? Namaz-e Hadya-e Mayyit can be said like the subh prayer; only the niyyat (intention) will change. However, it is better to do this namaz in the method taught by Imam Ja‘far as-Sãdiq (a.s.) as follows: